Numerous mops and cleaning implements are known in the art. Conventional string mops comprise an elongate shaft having a mop element, which can include numerous strands of a liquid absorbent material at one end of the shaft, and an operator gripping portion at the other end of the shaft. Such mops require a wringer bucket or other wringing mechanism to expel liquid from the mop element. More recently, one trend in the mop art has been towards “self-wringing” mops, which are mops that themselves include a wringer or wringing mechanism of one type or another to enable a user to wring the mop without the need for a separate wringer bucket. For example, the prior art has provided roller sponge mops, butterfly sponge mops, shaft-type sponge mops, flat mops, and the like. In some commercially available mops, the mop element may be twisted around the shaft to thereby expel the liquid which has been absorbed during use of the mop from the mop element. Such mops are known in the art by the generic term “twist mops.” Many manufacturers today sell numerous twist mop variations.
Some twist mops having a shaft, an operating member, which is axially displaceable and rotatable relative to the shaft, and a mop element, which can be wrung out by rotating the shaft elative to the operating member. It is desired to prevent the operating member from untwisting when one manually releases the operating member. The prior art has provided numerous efforts to address this problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,869, for example, discloses a twist mop which comprises a shaft, an operating member, which is an axially displaceable and rotatable relative to the shaft, and a mop head with cord-like cleaning elements which have their bottom ends fastened at the bottom end of the shaft and have their top ends fastened at the bottom end of the operating member. Each cleaning element forms a bight when the operating member is in a mopping position. This mop has a pawl device comprising a ring arranged on the shaft and from which resilient elements project in radially outwardly. The operating member is provided with ribs in the top region on its inner circumference. To wring the mop (i.e. to expel liquid from the mop element), the actuating sleeve is drawn axially away from the bottom mopping position. The resilient elements and the ribs together form a ratchet which permits rotation in the wringing direction but prevents rotation in the opposite direction. To return the mop element to a mopping position following the wringing operation, the operating member is advanced to thereby disengage the resilient elements and ribs.
A similar approach is provided by U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,728 in which another twist mop is described. This mop has a ratchet device which device comprises a pawl which projects radially inwardly from the actuating sleeve into a through-passage opening of the actuating sleeve and which engages a corresponding rib structure on the shaft.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a twist mop.